1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock, and more particularly, to a time programmable unlocking lock.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Locks have been used by people for over a thousand years. From the oldest tied ropes to wooden tenon to various kinds of electronics locks and mechanical locks, they are provided for protecting assets and security of people and improving human safety.
However, locks have to be installed on the outside of the door for a person to unlock the door with a key, when someone tries to break in the door, he/she often has to break the lock for allowing a forced entry. Besides, keys are small and easy to lose, if a key is accidentally lost, it would take a locksmith to unlock the door or even replace the whole lock, which would produce additional cost. Therefore, one of the solutions to the current deficiencies of locks is to hide the lock in a hard-to-find place, such as the Taiwan Utility Patent No. M284730, which discloses a keyless lock using electronic sensor to release the lock, although in this case there's no lock exposed externally, the user still has to carry a sensor controller for the lock, once he/she loses the controller, the same problem occurs.
In places such as warehouses or department stores, it is often that a person in charge should keep the keys to the doors, when that person is not able to show up on time, other workers have to wait, which could mean business loss to the company.
In view of the deficiencies of traditional locks, after years of constant efforts, the inventor of the present invention have developed and proposed a time programmable unlocking lock and its application to replace the traditional locks.